Cognizant has reportedly rolled out wage hikes starting from 1% to five% for a few of its workers, following a four-month delay. The hikes come amidst an uproar over the corporate’s decade-low beginning wage affords for contemporary graduates.
The raises, primarily based on efficiency rankings, have sparked additional dialogue, significantly as the very best increment was capped at 5%, in line with a report within the Financial Instances.
The report cited sources who stated workers with a efficiency ranking of three acquired a 1-3% enhance, these with a ranking of 4 noticed a 4% hike, and people with a prime ranking of 5 have been awarded increments as much as 5%.
That is notably decrease than the wage will increase of 7-11% that Cognizant workers reportedly acquired in April 2023. Enterprise At present was unable to confirm this data independently.
The timing of those modest raises coincides with widespread criticism of Cognizant’s off-campus hiring program, the place the beginning wage for contemporary graduates was set at Rs 2.5 lakh each year. This pay scale, unchanged since 2002, has grow to be a focus of debate on social media, particularly given the present financial situations.
Cognizant, which employs round 254,000 folks in India—roughly 70% of its international workforce—additionally reported a discount in its whole headcount by 8,100 workers within the quarter ending June 2024. Regardless of these challenges, the corporate posted a 22.2% year-on-year enhance in web revenue for the second quarter, amounting to $566 million, together with a 3.6% sequential progress.
Amid the uproar over the low beginning salaries, consideration has additionally turned to Cognizant’s CEO, Ravi Kumar Singisetti, who’s now reportedly the highest-paid IT CEO in India. In 2023, Singisetti earned $22.56 million (roughly Rs 186 crore), a compensation package deal that’s 556 instances the median wage of Cognizant workers. His earnings included a one-time inventory award valued at $20.25 million, which considerably contributed to his whole compensation.